Paranoia Prince
by Kenkanwrite
Summary: Tweek Tweak: An eccentric prince. Craig Tucker: His knight in shining armor. Sort of.
1. Prologue

It was a hot afternoon in August when the Crown Prince of Sunderland was born. It was a cause for celebration, and as word spread throughout the kingdom, so did the festivities.

King Richard had been ruling for eight years, with his wife, Evelyn. The two had been trying, under the watchful eyes of all the kingdom, to conceive an heir – unsuccessfully, until seven months ago.

News of the queen's pregnancy spread quickly, and bets were made as to whether the child would be a boy or a girl. If it were a girl, most thought it was likely that the queen, along with the girl, would be sent away, and a replacement found. While the king was not necessarily old, anything could happen, and without an heir the kingdom would fall into chaos, nobles squabbling for higher positions while lesser citizens were left to fend for themselves.

No, if it were a girl, the queen would certainly be sent away. There was no doubt about it.

But it wasn't. The child was sickly, and weak, but it was a boy, and would, one day, be able to take his father's place in ruling the kingdom.

* * *

The king paced anxiously outside his and his wife's bedroom, muscles tight with tension as he listened to the commotion within.

Evelyn had gone into labor late in the night, much to everyone's shock and concern. It was too early for the child to be born – much too early, and yet, it was coming.

There was a moment of silence, nothing but the sound of Richard's own heartbeat pounding in his ears. And then, weak cries could be heard, faint but audible, and the king sagged, relieved.

The door opened moments later, and he was ushered in by one of the midwives.

His wife was lying in bed, pale and exhausted looking, but smiling down at the small bundle in her arms. Its cries had since ceased, and it was cooing quietly as she held one of its hands. Richard came to the edge of the bed and looked down into his new child's face. It was small and pale, sickly, even, and its eyes, a deep green, seemed to take up its whole face.

"He has your eyes..." Evelyn murmured, glancing up at him.

"He...?"

"Mhm, he's a boy." She said quietly, not taking her eyes off the child for a moment.

Richard grinned, reaching out to gently pat his the boy's head. A son. _His_ son.

* * *

"Tweek, darling, you've barely touched your food." His mother chided from across the table.

 _Tweek._ The nickname that had somehow found him despite his stature, so popular that even his parents had begun referring to him as it.

"Mother, I asked you n-not to call me that." He ground out, stabbing angrily at his untouched dinner.

No, he wasn't eating it. His stomach, as usual, hurt, and on top of that he hated eating in front of so many people. Not to mention the fact that it could be _poisoned._ He was the single heir to an entire kingdom, after all, and as much as his parents assured him otherwise, he was sure there was at least _one_ person out there plotting to kill him.

He glanced up and caught his mother staring at him, her face creased with a frown.

He sighed, "I'm s-sorry. I just don't see why we need to have a b-big celebration for my birthday. Commoners don't celebrate theirs."

"Well you're not a commoner, sweetheart. I know you don't like it, but please, at least try to have a good time." She said, smiling gently.

Tweek sighed again and nodded. Just a little while longer. After dinner there would be dancing, where he would probably be expected to actually interact with others, and then, hopefully, he would be able to sneak away while everyone was having a good time.

Dancing was probably the worst part of every celebration they held. He was always expected to ask girls to dance, but how was he supposed to do that when they always clumped together and giggled and stared? Not to mention the fact that he was constantly stepping on their dresses and tripping over his own feet.

At least he had Wendy and Bebe, though. They always danced with him, and never laughed or got angry when he made a mistake. He looked down the table, searching for them, and spotted them near the far end, situated near Eric and Kyle.

Eric was talking animatedly, waving his food around, and Wendy was frowning angrily – her usual Eric expression. The two were engaged, and had been since birth, but she couldn't stand him. Tweek didn't blame her; Eric was probably the worst person Tweek had ever had the displeasure of being around – and the two had been forced into "friendship" since they were young, to both their chagrin.

Wendy was nice, though. She was very opinionated, and never one to back down from an argument, but unlike Eric, her opinions were good, and she was very kindhearted.

Kyle was seating next to Eric, red-faced, his mouth moving furiously. His hand would occasionally come up and slam back down, and it was clear that he disagreed with whatever Cartman was saying – not uncommon. Tweek and Kyle had been friends since they were young as well, and while they weren't especially close, Tweek enjoyed hanging out with him. Kyle was nice, if a bit argumentative, and unlike Eric, he never made fun of the prince's various tics.

Bebe was staring pointedly at her food, obviously trying not to laugh at whatever the others were arguing about. Upon seeing her, Tweek felt himself smiling a bit. She was, by far, his best friend out of them all – as much as you could call someone you saw maybe once a week your best friend. She was nice, and funny, and smart, and although she belonged to a lower family than the rest, she didn't act like it. She was easy to talk to, as well, and didn't treat him like he was different, as everyone else – Eric being the exception – did.

As dinner ended and the guests were ushered from the Great Hall and into the ball room, Tweek made a beeline for his friends. Whatever they'd been arguing about earlier seemed to have been forgotten, and they all greeted him happily when he made his appearance.

"Hi, Tweek! Happy birthday!" Bebe chirped, opening her arms for a hug.

Tweek was grateful she hadn't simply grabbed him, and happily wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"H-hey. Thanks."

"Do you want to dance?" She asked, taking a step back and holding out her hand.

He could hear Eric snickering in the background, and his face heated up. Everyone thought he had a crush on Bebe, and little things like this only seemed to make it worse. Well, this and the fact that every time someone suggested it his face turned beet red.

"Uh, y-yeah, sure." He mumbled, taking her hand and making his way into the crowd. He kept his eyes straight ahead, refusing to look back at the others. He could practically see their faces anyway, smirking like they knew some kind of secret.

It wasn't like he could be with Bebe even if he _did_ like her, which he genuinely didn't. She was a great friend, but " _love"_ was the furthest thing from his mind. He was more interested in not being murdered by nobles scheming to steal the crown.

"You don't look like you're having a very good time." Bebe said, pulling him from his thoughts.

"Ngh – I don't like my birthday. They always throw these b-big _things,_ even though I keep saying I don't like them. It would be the perfect opportunity to s-slip something into my food and k-kill me." He shuddered.

Bebe frowned and nodded, and Tweek was once again reminded why she was his favorite. Whenever he complained to the others about his fears they rolled their eyes and said no one was trying to kill him. Bebe understood, though; she believed him, or at least pretended to, and he was grateful for it.

The dance ended and they began making their way back to the others, who seemed to have gotten into another argument. Bebe let out a sigh, and Tweek frowned.

"Um, I-I'll be back in a minute. I n-need to, uh, use the bathroom." He mumbled, slipping away before she could respond. He felt bad for leaving her to listen to the others' arguing, but he was eager to escape, and he didn't enjoy being apart of their quarrels anymore than she did.

Leaving the room would be fairly easy; despite his being the prince, his appearance came as a surprise to many. He was short, thin, and sickly looking. He had very little muscle to speak of and was barely able to hold a sword. His features were delicate and feminine, and he lacked the general aura of confidence others of his stature oftentimes carried. Not to mention the twitching and near-constant stream of random sounds that left his mouth.

He was, in short, the last person you would expect to be a future king.

As he slipped through the crowd, he wondered what his life would be like if he hadn't been born the sole heir to the kingdom. He couldn't imagine himself working in a field; he was far too weak for hard labor. He couldn't picture himself being a servant, either; not with his anxious nature and constant talking. In all likelihood, his parents probably would have abandoned him. It was a depressing thought, and he tried to cut it off before he could really get to thinking about how terrible his life could have been.

He let out a relieved sigh as he left the cramped dance hall and entered an empty corridor. He glanced out one of the thin windows; the sun would be setting soon, taking most of the castle's unwanted guests with it.

As Tweek made his way down the hall, he heard footsteps approaching from behind. He tensed; his mother or father must have noticed him slipping out and sent one of his guards after him. Though they didn't fully believe anyone was out to get him, they recognized that their son was extremely accident prone, and didn't want to lose him to something like falling and hitting his head.

As he spun to confront the guard, a distant part of his mind was startled to realize that he'd left without one. Normally he couldn't do anything without at least one of them being present. Though, under the circumstances, he supposed it would have been impossible to take one with him without alerting his parents of his escape.

Upon turning around, Tweek was surprised to see that the person following him was not a guard – was not someone he knew at all. They were tall and lean, and their hair was dark. When the two made eye contact the man's speed increased.

Tweek's heart jumped in his chest and he promptly turned tail and ran. He didn't make it very far before his feet tangled with one another and he fell with a loud _thud._

He could hear the other person's footsteps as they caught up with him, and he curled up into a ball, tucking his arms over his head. _Maybe,_ he thought, _if I can avoid the majority of the damage, someone will show up and rescue me._

"Are you okay?" A voice asked from above him.

Tweek flinched a bit, then peeked out of the shelter of his arms; the man, who he now realized was a boy probably around his own age, was bent over him, one hand held out expectantly.

Tweek uncurled himself, suddenly realizing how un-princely he was acting. He pulled himself from the floor, ignoring the other boy's hand, and took a few steps back, brushing himself off. He took a moment to regain some semblance of composure before speaking.

"I'm f-fine." He stuttered, giving the boy what he hoped was an intimidating look.

It didn't seem to work, as the boy simply lowered his hand and shrugged. After a few beats of silent eye contact, Tweek looked away.

He felt a familiar anger rising in his stomach; the kind he felt every time he met someone new and saw the look of disappointment in their eyes. The look that said, " _This_ is the prince? _This_ is the boy who's supposed to be in charge of the entire kingdom one day?"

But who was this boy to stare at him so openly? He was no on Tweek knew, that was certain, and even if he was, the blond was still above him in rank. So unless he was a foreign prince – which Tweek highly doubted, judging by his attire – he had no right to be scaring him and chasing him around and _staring_ at him.

"Who are you?" He asked, proud that he'd managed not to stutter.

"Craig. Why were you running away?" Craig responded, his question coming out more like a statement.

Tweek felt his face heat up and turned away, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Why were you chasing me?"

"You're the prince, aren't you?"

Tweek started at this, and turned back to Craig, "Y-yeah." He said, quickly adding, " _Obviously._ "

Craig nodded, seeming satisfied with this. "That's why I was following you. I wanted to meet you. I'm a knight."

The blond couldn't help the laugh that left his mouth upon hearing that. This boy, a _knight?_ Sure, he was tall, and fairly muscular, but he was still only around Tweek's age. Plus, he wasn't wearing any armor, or carrying a sword.

"Don't laugh." Craig said, and Tweek's mouth snapped shut almost immediately.

Now this boy – this "knight" – was telling him what to do?

"Are you s-sure you know who I a-am?" He hissed, taking a step closer to Craig, his previous panic long forgotten.

The brunette didn't look intimidated, however; if anything, he looked bored, and Tweek felt his stomach curl with anger once again.

"I don't care. Don't laugh. I'm gonna be a knight."

Tweek stepped back, still shocked at Craig's lack of respect. "Training to b-be a knight isn't the same thing as actually being one, s-stupid." He mumbled, turning and beginning to walk away.

He wasn't going to stand and be humiliated, and despite the fact that Craig was lower than him, he really couldn't do anything about it other than walk away. Much to his chagrin, however, he heard footsteps following after him, and soon Craig's larger form was walking along next to his.

"Go away." He ordered.

"Why were you running earlier?"

Tweek ground his teeth together; back to this again?

"I thought you w-were one of the people coming to k-kill me." He muttered.

"Someone's trying to kill you?" Craig asked, sounding amazed.

And just like that, it was as if someone had flipped a switch in Tweek's brain.

"Y-yeah! I'm the sole heir to the k-kingdom after all. That's why have to have guards with me all the time. They have someone taste all of my f-food, too, to make sure its not poisoned. My father doesn't need anyone to, because he's taken enough that he's immune, but I can't do that b-because of my stomach." He rambled.

The was silence between the two for a moment, and the prince suddenly found himself embarrassed that he'd shared so much with a stranger. Normally he saved the murder-plot talk for his parent and friends.

Craig suddenly stopped walking, and without thinking, Tweek stopped with him.

"I'll protect you." Craig declared.

"W-what?"

"I'm not a knight yet, but I will be, one day. So, when I am, I'll protect from anyone who wants to hurt you."

Tweek's face grew red once again as he blushed, and he quickly turned away to hide it. He wasn't even sure why exactly he _was_ blushing, but he didn't want Craig to see it.

"O...okay."

"Okay?"

The prince nodded, not trusting himself to speak again without messing up somehow. His heart was beating hard in his chest, but somehow it was...different from the how it usually was. Intense, but not exactly unpleasant.

When he glanced at Craig again, the brunette was smiling.

* * *

 **A/N:** Whew, this is the first long thing I've done in a while! Sorry if they seem a little OOC, I'm a bit out of practice. And, in case anybody's confused, the age range for this is like thirteen or fourteen.

Also, sorry for any inaccuracies, I tried to look things up as I went along, but it was surprisingly hard to find anything I really needed. It might be that I'm just really bad at research, haha.

Anyway, I'm thinking about writing more for this? I've only got the first couple of chapters planned out, though, so it'll probably take a while for me to update until I figure out for sure where I'm going with this, if anywhere. If I do decide to continue, though, I'll _try_ to have something up within the next two weeks.


	2. Chapter 1

Tweek shifted on his horse, uncomfortable being so far away from the ground. If he was being completely honest, horses terrified him – they were _huge,_ for one, and extremely dangerous. One wrong move and suddenly you were being kicked in the head, and then it was all over.

He shuddered, his grip on the reins tightening. He hated horses and he hated hunting, but of course, being the prince, these were things he had to "get used to". Hunting, horse riding, _fighting;_ all things he absolutely despised. His parents had refused to listen, though – his father especially.

Despite his shortcomings in every princely activity he was forced to participate in, both were convinced that he'd eventually get the hang of things. Five years of practice, however, and he was still struggling to hold a sword correctly, shoot a bow, or remember the names of neighboring kingdoms and their rulers.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted movement, and looked over to see a deer sliding through the trees, unperturbed by him or his party. The others took no notice of it as they moved on, chatting amongst themselves. Tweek wondered, for a moment, whether he should call them back. He decided against it; noise might spook the creature, and besides, Eric was sure to mock him for being unable to bring it down on his own.

He raised his bow and took a deep breath, struggling to calm the shaking in his hands. When they were as steady as he could get them, he took another deep breath and –

And suddenly his horse was moving, shooting off into the trees as he let out a startled yelp, his hands fumbling for the reins. He finally managed to catch them, jerking them hard in the hopes that the horse would stop, or at least _slow down_ before they crashed into something or slipped into a ravine and died _._

Tweek yelped once again as the horse suddenly reared up, throwing him from its back before it took off once again. He let out a pained groan and sat up, pressing against the back of his now throbbing head. He could already feel a lump forming, and cursed the horse for throwing him.

He attempted to stand, and let out a whimper as a bolt of pain shot through his ankle. He sank back to the ground, tenderly poking at his apparently injured ankle. It throbbed, and he winced. It didn't _look_ like anything was wrong, but he knew he wasn't going to be able to get very far on it.

He looked around, hoping to see something familiar – a tree or a rock they'd passed. He saw nothing, though, nothing but trees, trees, and of course, more trees. He listened for a moment, hoping to hear the voices of his group, or even that damned _horse_ , but was met with nothing but birdsong and rustling underbrush.

He brought a hand up to his hair and pulled at it nervously.

This was it. This was how he was going to die; not poisoned or bludgeoned or stabbed, but alone in the woods. He was going to starve to death, or be torn apart by wolves, and no one would ever find his body. He'd be remembered as the paranoid, incompetent prince who got lost in the woods and was never seen again.

He slumped back against a tree, wincing as his head thumped against it.

Dead, without ever having _done_ anything. He wouldn't rule the kingdom, or have kids, or get married.

Marriage. He thought of Esther, suddenly; she'd probably be glad. She hated him, anyway. He shuddered, remembering the first time they'd met.

 _Tweek stared down at his lap, trying to ignore the feeling of her eyes boring holes into his skull._

 _Why was she glaring at him? Had he done something? He didn't think so; the only thing he'd said this whole time was, "It's nice to meet you". Granted, he'd stuttered quite a bit and it had taken him a minute to get it out, but he had still_ managed.

 _He chanced a peek at her and returned his eyes to his lap. She looked so_ angry. _He looked over at his mother, who was smiling and chatting with Esther's own, apparently unaware of the murderous look her poor son was receiving. He stared at her, hoping she'd notice and say something, to no avail. She simply continued on talking, not even sparing a glance at her son and his bride-to-be._

 _He'd had high hopes for the whole engagement. He wasn't particularly thrilled at the idea of an arranged marriage, of course, but his mother had assured him things would be fine. Esther was a very kind girl, or so she'd heard, and very beautiful, as well._

 _Looking at her, Tweek couldn't disagree with the latter statement. She was very pretty, tall and thin with bright blue eyes, like pieces of ice. Her hair was black and framed her face in gentle waves, and when he'd first seen her, Tweek had felt his heart speed up just a bit._

 _Until she'd looked at him, of course._

 _She'd been smiling as she walked in, speaking quietly to her mother about something. As soon as she'd laid eyes on him, however, her expression fell. She'd given him a quick once over before apparently deciding she didn't like what she saw, and had since been glaring at him, only looking away when Tweek's mother or her own asked her a question._

He grimaced at the memory. He definitely hadn't wanted to marry Esther after _that,_ and had been dreading the slowly approaching wedding date, but he didn't want to _die._ He'd rather marry a thousand Esthers than be eaten by wolves, or whatever other horrible fate awaited him out here.

He pulled his knees closer to his chest, careful not to jostle his ankle, and shivered; he didn't want to think about all of the things that could possibly happen to him. Instead he tried to focus on being found – he wished he could just get up and go looking for the others. He was stuck here, though, sitting in the dirt with the insects.

He wondered briefly if he should try to start a fire, to signal them – then shook his head. He didn't know how to start a fire, and even if, by some miracle, he managed to get one lit, he would almost certainly end up burning himself.

With his hope of being rescued quickly dying, he found his mind turning back to thoughts of wolves and bears and – was that a rustling he'd heard in the bushes just now?

Despite his efforts to hold it back, he couldn't help the whimper that left his mouth as he scrambled through the dirt, away from the noise. His eyes darted around, searching for something he could use to defend himself – a stick, a rock, anything would work.

The creature burst through the bushes just as he found the perfect rock **.** He threw it before the thing could come any closer, but rather than receiving a snarl or howl in return, there was only the whinny of a horse, and a muttered curse. His head jerked up, and he saw that it wasn't a wolf that had sprung through the underbrush **,** but a man – one of the men from his own group, Tweek realized.

"Your Highness! Are you alright? Everyone's been looking for you." The man quickly climbed from his horse and hurried to the prince's side.

Tweek stood shakily, careful to keep his weight to one foot, and brushed himself off, trying to look as dignified as possible. "I'm f-fine."

The man seemed skeptical, giving Tweek a quick once over. Apparently satisfied with what he saw, he nodded and gestured towards his horse.

"We should get back to the others. Her Majesty is extremely worried; she was ready to have a search party sent out."

Tweek blanched; a search party? His mother had almost gotten an entire search party sent out because he had been missing for a little while? It couldn't have been more than a couple of hours that he'd been gone.

He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face; he supposed it wasn't _that_ surprising that his mother had overreacted. He was her only child – and he had to have gotten some of his...quirks, from somewhere. Still, he'd hoped that maybe the entire kingdom didn't have to know about this. There was no chance of that now, though, not when –

"Your Highness?"

Tweek jumped and looked up to see the man staring at him curiously. He resisted the urge to look away, and instead stared him down until the other cleared his throat and averted his eyes.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your thoughts but, as I said, I think we should get back to the others."

Tweek nodded wordlessly and started for the horse – only to feel another burst of pain, and to find himself heading for the ground. He yelped in terror, then surprise, when he felt a pair of hands grab his arm, keeping him upright.

He looked back to see the man once again staring at him with concern, and felt his face heat up. He'd forgotten about his ankle.

"Are you alright?"

Tweek's face reddened further, and this time he couldn't resist the urge to look away. "When I...f-fell off my horse, I hurt my ankle." He mumbled.

He had expected the man to laugh at his admission (that was what Eric or Kyle probably would have done, at least). Instead he felt an arm bracing hi back, and another sweep against the back of his knees as he was lifted from the ground. He squeaked and flailed, although it didn't do much good. The man was either very good at dodging, or Tweek's swinging fists didn't hurt very much.

He quickly gave up on trying to escape, and instead turned to glaring up at his carrier. "What are you d-doing?"

"You can't walk." The man answered, his tone suggesting that it _should_ have been obvious, and Tweek was a fool for even asking.

He increased the intensity of his glare, although it, like his hitting, seemed to have no effect. Much to his relief, it wasn't long before he was being lifted onto the man's horse (a process that proved much more difficult than either of them seemed to have realized). He shifted nervously, not particularly thrilled to be back on a horse – although this one seemed like it was less likely to be spooked than his had been.

He started when he felt the man climbing on behind him, and the blush that had been slowly seeping from his face returned full force. Arms wrapped around him to grab the reins, and the horse began to trot along, apparently knowing their destination without needing to be told.

"Did you h-have to sit behind me." He mumbled.

"I wouldn't want you falling off again." The man answered, and Tweek could practically hear the smile in his voice.

He jerked his head up and – yes, of course he was sitting there _grinning_ , as if falling off a horse was the funniest thing he could think to happen. Or perhaps it was simply because it was Tweek, the _prince,_ who had fallen.

The man glanced down at him, his smile widening before his eyes returned to the forest ahead. Tweek only glared, a distant part of his mind marveling at how short he was compared to this man. And how pale, and thin, and weak, and –

He grimaced and shook his head, looking at the trees they passed instead. He heard enough of his inadequacies whispered behind his back by nearly everyone at the castle, he didn't need to hear them from himself as well.

Despite his resolve to only watch the forest pass, though, Tweek found himself looking up at the man once again. There was something familiar about him, beyond the fact that he'd been part of the hunting party earlier. His hair was black, his eyes a dark blue...was it that he was being reminded of Esther, perhaps?

No, that wasn't it. It was more like he'd seen him somewhere before.

"Um – have we m-met before?" He blurted.

The man seemed first surprised, then slightly disappointed. "You don't recognize me?"

Tweek frowned, trying to think of where they may have met. His mind pulled a blank, though, and he shook his head.

The man smiled softly, "It has been a few years." He mumbled, before continuing. "We met at your fourteenth birthday celebration. I chased you down the hall and you fell. You thought I was going to attack you." He snickered.

"Then you're...Craig..." Tweek said, the memories suddenly rushing back.

Yes, he remembered that night fairly well, now, and was surprised he hadn't realized that this was Craig on his own. It definitely explained the familiar attitude and lack of respect; Craig's personality clearly hadn't changed much.

Craig nodded above him, smiling again. Tweek hummed, running over the events of that night once again. It was an embarrassing memory, and he hadn't thought about in – well, in years, probably.

The rest of the ride passed silently, and it wasn't long before they found the others. The collective look of relief on their faces (minus Eric's) sent a twinge of guilt through him. He hadn't meant to ruin their trip (though he knew if he said that, all of them would deny it).

"Tweek, are you okay?" Kyle asked, frowning as he gave him the same once over Craig had earlier.

"Yeah, I-I'm fine. My horse got spooked and reared up and I f-fell off." He said, grinding his teeth together when he heard Eric begin to laugh. He was saying something too, probably mocking him, and Tweek chose to tune it out.

Kyle shot a glare in Eric's direction, then nodded, apparently satisfied. "We should get back, then. Her Majesty is...not doing so well, apparently."

Tweek grimaced and nodded, holding back a sigh as the group start back for the castle. As much as he'd wanted to go home earlier, the thought of dealing with his hysterical mother almost made him wish he could go back to sitting in the dirt.

* * *

"Oh, Tweek, sweetheart, I'm so glad that you're alright."

Tweek didn't respond – couldn't, really, given how tightly his mother was holding him. She'd been like this for the last few minutes, practically strangling him and declaring that he was never going to leave the castle again. Normally something like that would have made him happy, but the fact that he couldn't breathe made it hard to feel anything but panic.

"Mother-"

"Who was it?"

Tweek paused for a moment, then tried once again to pull himself from his mother's grasp. She finally seemed to understand, and loosened her grip enough that he could stand back.

"Who was w-who?"

"The person who rescued you!"

His face reddened, and he looked away. "Rescued" made it sound like he was some princess trapped in a tower somewhere.

"C-Craig." He mumbled, still not looking at her. He didn't know _why_ exactly, he was so embarrassed. He was fairly certain he wouldn't have been this reluctant to tell her if it had been Kyle or one of the others to find him.

"Craig? Craig who?" She asked, her face pinching with concentration. His mother, much like himself, had never been good at remembering families either, much to his father's exasperation.

"I...I'm not sure. He's a s-squire."

Tweek saw the way his mother's eyes lit up and groaned internally. He couldn't even begin to imagine what she had suddenly thought up, but he doubted that it was anything he would enjoy. Her hands squeezed his shoulders once before letting go, and she began to clap and laugh.

"Oh, a squire! We should knight him! As a reward for saving you – oh, we can have a big ceremony, too!"

"Mother I d-don't think-"

"Oh, I do hope your father returns soon, we can't do this without him." She said, beginning to pace. She paused long enough to gently ruffle his hair before heading for the door. "Go to your chambers and get some rest, dear."

He watched her go, too tired by the day's events to be even slightly irked by the fact that she had completely ignored him.

* * *

Tweek fidgeted, pulling at the hem of his shirt. It, along with everything else he was wearing, itched unbearably. The thought of spiders suddenly popped into his head, and he struggled to hold back the disgusted noises that welled up in his throat.

His mother, who had apparently noticed his attention wandering from the ceremony, gently knocked his hand away from his shirt. He jumped, then glanced up at her sheepishly. She was smiling, but it was one of warning, and he nodded slightly before folding his hands in his lap. They wouldn't stay there for long, he knew, but the ceremony wouldn't last much longer.

The whole thing had been thrown together very quickly, and even now Craig looked a bit dazed. It had probably been a shock, to wake up one day and suddenly achieve the one thing you had always been working towards.

Tweek wished he knew the feeling.

He shook away the thought and once again tried to focus on the ceremony. The room was packed with other knights and various nobles, the majority of whom Tweek couldn't name even in his wildest dreams. He looked back to the front, at Craig, who was now saying his oath. A distant part of him thought he looked nice, calm and well put together, even surrounded by strangers. Tweek, once again, found himself envious of the other man.

His mind wandered as the ceremony went on, his hands restlessly twitching and twisting around one another against his thighs. He marveled at how quiet it was, despite the crowd, and grimaced when he thought of the celebration to come afterwards. He didn't think he would be able to sneak away unnoticed; his mother had begun watching him carefully at formal events, having grown wise to his habit of slinking out when no one was watching.

It seemed to end abruptly, although he knew it was probably because he hadn't been paying attention. His mother was nudging him forward, and he paled when he realized she wanted him to go with her and his father to congratulate Craig. It wasn't that he didn't _want_ to – but there were a lot of people here, and –

His mother was nudging him more insistently now, and he crept forward nervously. His father was already giving his best wishes, while Craig stood looking even more dazed than he had earlier. A lot of people seemed to get that way around his father, although Tweek wasn't sure if it was because he was the king, or if it was his complicated overuse of metaphors.

His mother went next, taking Craig's hand in her own and enthusiastically thanking him for "rescuing" Tweek. He felt his face heat up, and scowled; he'd asked her several times now to stop saying it like that, and every time she simply laughed and waved him off.

Once she'd had her fill of embarrassing him, Tweek stepped forward, folding his hands firmly behind his back in the hope that no one would see them shake.

"C-congratulations. And thank you, again." He said, praising himself for only having stuttered once.

Craig smiled and bowed slightly, "It seems more like I should be thanking you. If you hadn't fallen off your horse and hurt yourself, I might have been a squire for another two years."

His tone was light, and Tweek felt himself torn between annoyance at Craig's continued informality, and the pleasure of not being treated like a fragile object for once. In the end, he gave in and smiled back.

 **A/N:** *bangs on a drum* hi my name's kenny and welcome to my probably extremely inaccurate fic

Okay, so, I wanted to get this done and posted like a week or two after I posted the prologue but I just? Never got around to it, ha. Anyway, like I said, all this stuff is probably pretty inaccurate, I can't focus long enough to do any good amount of research and this fic is also kind of just me being self indulgent? Because I wanted a prince AU and I couldn't find one and I, personally, don't care whether it's accurate or not.

Also, this is my first time doing a multi-chapter fic with a central plot in a _long_ time, so I'm sorry if it's not great.

So yeah, I'll try to update maybe...once every two weeks? But if you've read any of my other stuff you probably know how bad I am about updating, so...take what I say with a grain of salt.


	3. Chapter 2

Tweek sighed, flopped back on his bed, and stuck out a leg to allow Butters to lace his boot. He had long grown passed feeling awkward about having other people dress him – and Butters was his friend, anyway.

His thoughts now were more focused on his impending meeting with Esther, and how exactly he was going to make it through another couple of hours of being glared at. He'd tried to speak to his mother about it, but she had only dismissed him, saying that Esther was just nervous. Tweek knew nervous though, and Esther was most definitely _not_ nervous. She was murderous, if anything.

He groaned and sat up, wincing when he felt his foot connect with something.

"Sorry, Butters, I f-forgot you were there." He said sheepishly, careful now to hold his legs still.

Butters only laughed though, and patted his leg. "It's okay, Tweek."

Pip looked at them from his place in front of Tweek's closet, holding two tunics, one blue, the other green. Tweek frowned at the blue one, reminded of Esther once again. He sighed and fell back against his bed again.

"Tweek, are you alright?" Pip asked, taking a few steps closer.

"Yeah, you're actin' awful strange." Butters added.

Tweek snorted. He was always "acting strange" according to everyone else. He understood what the two of them meant though.

"I don't w-want to go see Esther. She _hates_ me!"

Pip and Butters shared a look, and Pip smiled in what was probably supposed to be a reassuring way.

"I'm sure she doesn't hate you! She probably just...nervous as well. And, in any case, Her Majesty will be there, won't she?"

"Yes, but she's still going to g-glare at me and – ngh! I don't want to go!" Tweek placed his face in his hands and moaned. He felt the bed dip on either side of him, and a gentle hand patted him on the knee; Butters, probably.

"It can't be that bad, Tweek. I'm sure you two will...grow to like one another eventually. Your parents wouldn't pick someone terrible for you." Pip said.

"Yeah! I'm sure it'll all work out in the end." Butters added.

Tweek sighed and lifted his face from his hands. He didn't exactly agree with them – not at all, really, but he knew they both meant well. And talking about it with both of them had made him feel a bit better about it, too.

He stood from his bed and grabbed the blue tunic, struggling with it for a moment before Pip helped him tug it down over his head.

"Th-thanks." He mumbled.

Pip and Butters both smiled, and Butters stood and hurried to open the door for him. Tweek sighed one more time before he left his room, sending Pip and Butters one last miserable glance before the door shut behind him.

He turned to his guards – and froze when he saw Craig standing amongst them.

"C-Craig?"

The four of them turned to face him, all except Craig looking slightly surprised. Tweek felt his face reddening. He hadn't ever addressed any of the others by name – hadn't even bothered learning them to be completely honest.

He couldn't help but stare at Craig. It had only been a couple of weeks since his knighting ceremony, and Tweek hadn't expected to see him again so soon. He had sort of thought it would take another few years for Craig to move up the ranks enough to be put on guard duty.

Despite his embarrassment, Tweek shot Craig a smile. He only nodded in response, though, and Tweek felt a knot of disappointment form in his stomach. His smiled faded and he turned away. Despite the fact that Craig's informality had annoyed him a bit, he had also enjoyed being treated normally.

He supposed it was his own fault for expecting anything else.

* * *

Tweek lifted his tea to his mouth, wincing at the way his shaking hands made it rattle against its saucer. He glanced up at Esther and promptly looked away; she was glaring at him again. He set his drink down quickly and placed his hands in his lap. He could still feel Esther's eyes on him, and his nails dug into his palms. He just wanted this meeting to be over.

"Tweek, dear, what do you think?"

Tweek jumped and looked at his mother. He suddenly realized that she was staring at him, along with Esther's mother.

"Um – w-what?"

His mother sighed and Esther's mother covered her mouth with one hand, obviously trying to hide a smirk. Tweek ducked his head, hoping they wouldn't notice how red his face was getting.

"I asked what you thought of green?"

"It's...n-nice?" He said, relieved when his mother smiled and nodded. He wasn't sure what exactly they were talking about, but he didn't want to sit through a lecture from his mother later about "proper guest etiquette".

After what felt like an eternity, Tweek's mother stood and offered a hand to Esther's. While they exchanged farewells, he turned to Esther; he knew his mother would make him say goodbye to her eventually anyway.

"It was nice s-seeing you again, Lady Esther." He stuttered, giving a small, clumsy bow.

She gave him a cool, assessing look in return before offering a curtsy in return. "And you as well."

He turned and gave Esther's mother a bow as well, then began inching towards the door. His mother, oblivious to his escape attempt – or perhaps pretending not to notice – continued to chatter on with the two. He gave them one last glance, long enough to catch Esther staring at him, and slipped out the door.

Outside, he was once again greeted by the sight of Craig standing with his usual guards. He frowned; although the meeting hadn't gone as well as it could have, it still hadn't been _fun_ by any stretch of the imagination, and seeing Craig was only making his mood worse.

He started at the sound of the door behind him and turned sheepishly, ready to receive a scolding from his mother. Instead he saw Esther, seeming slightly surprised and...relieved?

"Your Royal Highness, could I...speak with you in private for a moment?" She asked, glancing over his shoulder at the guards behind him.

He stared at her, gaping; he'd never heard her speak so politely to him, or look at him so sweetly. He took a small step back, suddenly more nervous than he'd ever been under the force of her glares.

His first instinct was to say no – being alone with Esther was the exact opposite of what he wanted, not to mention how inappropriate it was. The longer he had to look at her making puppy dog eyes at him, though, the more he felt his reserve crumbling.

"O-okay. Only for a m-minute though, I don't want us to – ngh – get in trouble."

Esther smiled and nodded, grabbing his hand a leading him down the hall. His stomach twisted nervously and he glanced back to the room where their mothers' waited. He wasn't sure what Esther had told them she was going to do, but hopefully they wouldn't come looking for her.

He yelped when Esther suddenly pulled him to the side and into a storeroom. He looked around, shuddering at the dark, dank room. He'd never been in one of them before; even when playing games as a child he'd avoided these types of rooms. They were always dirty, dark and cramped – disgusting. He nervously tugged at his tunic and turned to face Esther, who was standing in front of the door, watching him.

"S-so, what did you want to...t-talk about?" He asked, resisting the urge to break eye contact with her.

"Oh – nothing. I just wanted to be alone with you for a bit." Esther waved a dismissive hand and smiled, taking a step closer to him.

"What? W-why?"

Esther stared at him for a moment before she burst out laughing, and Tweek jumped. He waited until her laughter faded away.

"You're going to be my husband. It's only natural."

"But then...why are you always g-glaring at me?"

She laughed again and took another step towards him, closing her hand over his. "It would be terribly improper if I were overly affectionate in front of _others_ , wouldn't it?"

Tweek stared at her, lost for words. Everything that she was saying made sense, but at the same time...didn't. Before he could ask her anything else, though, she was leaning down and pressing her lips against his.

He yelped and jumped back, his feet tangling with one another as he went. He flailed his arms, searching for something to keep him from falling, and managed to catch a shelf. His success was short lived, though, as the wood creaked and gave way, sending himself and everything on it to the floor. He looked up at Esther, who was staring down at him with something closer to annoyance than concern.

"Esther, I'm s-s-"

He was cut off by the sound of the storeroom door slamming open. Craig stood there, one hand hovering over his sword, backed by the other guards. All of them looked concerned, and Tweek struggled to stand up amid the mess he'd created.

Craig sighed and pushed passed Esther without so much as a glance and pulled Tweek up from the floor.

"Are you alright, Your Highness?"

Tweek looked from Craig, who seemed genuinely concerned, to Esther, who now seemed angry – although he wasn't sure if it was from being interrupted or rejected – to the rest of his guards, who simply looked confused.

"I-I...ngh, this is too much pressure!" He cried, pushing passed Craig, Esther, and all of the other guards. He took off down the hall, ignoring them as they called after him. He needed to talk to Bebe.

* * *

After almost an hour of running around the castle, Tweek finally found Bebe – along with Wendy – in the gardens. The two were seated on a bench, laughing and talking quietly together.

He skidded to a halt in front of them and doubled over, panting. He wished, not for the first time, that he had been born with just a little more athletic skill.

"Tweek! What are you doing out here? Are you okay?" Bebe asked, standing and guiding him to sit on the bench.

"Esther! She k-kissed me! And then I f-fell, and Craig! And, ugh, I messed up, Bebe! I m-messed up!"

Wendy and Bebe looked at one another, and Wendy shrugged. Bebe squeezed onto the bench between Tweek and Wendy and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Why don't you just try to calm down, and _then_ tell us what happened?"

He took a deep, shuddering breath and forced the words out. "I had a meeting with Esther t-today. After I left she came and f-found me and, and asked if we could go somewhere p-private. Then she pulled me into a storeroom and k-kissed me! And then I f-fell and Craig c-came in and – ngh! She was s-so mad!" Tweek yanked at his hair as he finished telling the story. Bebe gently pulled it away from his head and held it in her own.

"Tweek, I think you're just overreacting a little. She was probably just embarrassed too. After all, you aren't really supposed to be..." Bebe trailed off as Wendy gave her a pointed look.

Tweek pulled his hand from Bebe's and covered his face. "I k-know! I didn't want t-to but she was looking at me!"

Bebe sighed and rubbed his back. For a few minutes, the three of them were quiet, and he slowly felt his anxiety draining away. He knew it would be back as soon as he was away from his friends and had the chance to really _think_ again, but for now he felt a bit calmer.

The sound of rapid footsteps came from somewhere in the garden, and all three of them turned in unison. Craig rounded the corner, red faced and sweating, and locked eyes with Tweek. He froze, then started for them at a brisk pace. When he stopped in front of them, still sweating and breathing heavily, Tweek's stomach turned, his mind racing with possibilities.

Had his parents been attacked? Or the kingdom, perhaps? Or maybe it was something smaller, like a fire?

"Did – did something h-happen?" He asked.

Craig stared at him for a moment, then sighed and ran a hand over his face. "You ran off all of a sudden and no one could find you, is what happened."

Realization hit him, and Tweek ducked his head. "O-oh. Sorry." He mumbled.

He head Craig sighed again and kept his eyes firmly on his lap, wishing he could melt into the bench. He'd been so frenzied earlier, he hadn't even considered that anyone might be worried about him.

As the silence between himself and Craig stretched on, Bebe cleared her throat. "You're the one who rescued Tweek, aren't you?"

Tweek started at the use of the word "rescue" and gave her a weak glare. She was still looking up at Craig, though, smiling softly. Craig stared back, his expression unreadable, then gave her a curt nod. Bebe's smile widened, and Tweek stood suddenly, pulling everyone's attention to himself.

"Well, if everyone's l-looking for me I suppose we should g-go back."

"No shit."

Tweek heard as Wendy gasped behind him, and Bebe giggled. He felt a vague, confusing tug of irritation at that, but it didn't stop the small smile that made its way onto his face.

* * *

Tweek followed after Craig as quickly as he could, struggling slightly to keep up with Craig's fast pace. Neither of them had spoken as they searched for the other guards, and Tweek could feel the questions he had been dying to ask bubbling up his throat.

He took a deep breath and blurted, "Why a-are you here? And have you been acting so w-weird?"

Craig stopped in his tracks, half-turning to look at Tweek. They stared at one another silently for a moment, and Tweek was reminded of the night they first met. This time, though, he didn't allow himself to look away, and Craig broke eye contact first.

"Well, first off, you're the prince. It's my job to guard you. I can't just sit around and talk all day. Secondly, I'm here because I promised I'd protect you, remember?"

Craig turned away and began to walk again, his pace slower now. Tweek followed quickly and clutched at his shirt as he felt his heart beating a familiar, intense tune.

* * *

 **A/N** : Sorry for the short chapter, it's been a while since I've worked on this and I'm still trying to get back into the swing of it.


End file.
